There isn’t much to say about Juventus’ 5-0 win over Cremonese on Monday than what’s already been said. The Old Lady stepped onto the field and promptly opened a can of whoop-ass, leaving the visitors wondering what hit them. Even the VAR luck went their way when Cremonese were denied a penalty initially given for a Manuel Locatelli tackle—one that they thought was going to be upgraded to a red card—and then confirmed a penalty of their own when Federico Baschirotto deflected the ball onto his own arm.
It was a brilliant night all around, and some of Juve’s most in-form players continued to lead the way. There were fantastic performances all around the pitch on Monday—so much so that the collective average of these ratings will likely be quite high.
How high? Well, let’s find out…
MICHELE DI GREGORIO – 7. Didn’t have a whole lot to do, but came up big when called upon. His save on Zerbin after Andrea Cambiaso’s weird backwards chest pass might’ve been the decisive moment in the game. If he scored there, the tenor of the match would’ve been entirely different.
PIERRE KALULU – 8. This man has been absolutely brilliant this season. He was pretty airtight defensively and was highly useful when advancing to join the attack. His assist to McKennie was absolutely brilliant. Outside of Kenan Yildiz and maybe Edon Zhegrova, he may be the best crosser on the team.
BREMER – 7.5. Every time I watch the opening goal, I can’t shake the image of Dani Rojas shouting “MY FACE SCORED A GOAL!” in the third-season premier of Ted Lasso. He clearly didn’t know much about it, but was getting closer and closer to his usual self in the back. He led the team with three clearances, and completely neutralized Jamie Vardy, who only touched the ball 11 times in 57 minutes.
LLOYD KELLY – 7.5. Another excellent display from the Englishman, who at this point has pretty much proven everyone who was baying for his head last year (myself included) wrong. Didn’t put a foot wrong anywhere.
WESTON McKENNIE – 8. Someone get this man a contract already! He was everywhere today, pulling inside to provide an extra body in the box and also working out wide to make chances for others. He led the team with three dribbles and hit the target with three of his four shots. His goal was perfectly taken, a reminder of just how good he is in the air. If his poke toward the net at the beginning of the first half had had a fraction more speed to it we’d be talking about a brace. Excellent performance.
MANUEL LOCATELLI – 6.5. Those slide tackles of his are usually rather well-timed, so I’m not too upset when he tries them, even in dangerous spots. He managed to get just enough of the ball to avoid that penalty kick, and was pretty dang excellent besides. He registered two key passes and once again was the catalyst for a goal-producing counter with a great ball out of the back.
KHÉPHREN THURAM – 7.5. The only player other than McKennie to register more than one dribble, Thuram was in the thick of two of Juve’s five goals, notching the assist on Jonathan David’s goal and then taking the shot that led to the penalty. He was a monster to deal with in midfield.
ANDREA CAMBIASO – 6. He is lucky—very lucky—that that iffy chested back pass didn’t end up another howler. Cut that out, Andrea. He did pick himself up to have a better day, racking up a pair of key passes from the left-hand side.
FABIO MIRETTI – 8. The pass he made that led to the own goal was a thing of absolute beauty. It was the kind of thing that reminds you why he was so highly touted when he finally got the call from the NextGen. The fact that his assist came from hitting Bremer in the face as opposed to that gorgeous touch is kind of hilarious. He had three key passes overall, and when he was withdrawn in the 82nd minute had run farther than anyone else on the pitch. It wasn’t empty work, either, he stole the ball from defenders deep in attacking territory a couple of times. Depending on what formation Spalletti uses—and it looks like he’s gravitating toward a 4-2-3-1—he has to be the trequartista. If the 3-4-2-1 comes out more, then there’s a real chance Francisco Conceição is going to get Wally Pipped.
KENAN YILDIZ – 7.5. Immediately attracted two defenders whenever he got the ball. One-on-one he was unplayable, and Cremonese were unable to keep him from getting into shooting positions. Were it not for Audero he might’ve had a hat trick. Kudos too for a young player to stay so damn calm when the rebound of his penalty bounced back to him—it’s easy to panic in that situation and mishit the ball.
JONATHAN DAVID – 7.5. Over the last two games this looks like a completely new human being. David looks confident, his touch and control are strong, and he’s using his passing ability to make the attack even more dangerous, often dropping deeper into the hole to become a fulcrum for the rest of the attack. He could’ve finished slightly better on some chances in the second half, but ultimately this was another huge step in the right direction for the Canadian.
SUBS
EDON ZHEGROVA – 6. His usual lively self while dribbling, he interchanged well with McKennie and Kalulu and created a few dangerous spots.
JUAN CABAL – 6. Held his side of the field down well and provided a key pass as well.
VASILIJE ADZIC – 5.5. Didn’t really impose himself on the game as the team looked to close things out.
TEUN KOOPMEINERS – 6. Made a pair of clearances and tried to cannon one from long that didn’t get out of a crowd. Completed 95.5 percent of his passes over 20 minutes, but still needs to figure out how to be the creative menace he was at Atalanta.
LOÏS OPENDA – NR. In to close things out and give Miretti a rest, he only touched the ball five times, and none of them were in a threatening position.
MANAGER ANALYSIS
On the whole, managerial changes tend to be performative as much as anything else. It isn’t often that you see a one actually produce the kind of results that Spalletti is actually getting. He’s pulling this year’s version of what Claudio Ranieri did last year at Roma, steadying the ship before completely unleashing the team on the rest of the league.
The team has clearly responded to his methods and his tactics, and have transformed from one of Italy’s most stagnant, predictable teams into one of the most fluid. They’re attack-focused, defensively sound, and they don’t stop going for the throat after they score. Even at 3-0, 4-0, and even 5-0 they were pushing forward looking to add more.
It’s kind of mind-boggling to see what he’s doing here with Juve juxtaposed with how poorly he did with the Italian national team, but perhaps he’s simply one of those managers most suited to the club game. But the job he’s done in such a short time is highly impressive. Now, the question becomes keeping it going as the difficulty ramps up. Next week will see two crunch home games against Benfica in the Champions League and Napoli in Serie A. Those contests will be the true test that Spalletti has created a new team—especially against Napoli, considering the mistakes he made in the reverse fixture.
The business end of the season is coming.
LOOKING AHEAD
Juve fly to Sardinia to face Cagliari on Saturday, then the aforementioned double test of Benfica—a massively important match for Juve’s chances to advance out of the league phase—and Napoli, followed immediately thereafter by the league phase finale away to Monaco. The next two weeks or so will be critical in determining what the team is targeting when the spring arrives.
